December 27, 2019

Is This a Room at the Vineyard Theater: Arresting Reality

No wonder the whistleblower won’t reveal him/herself. You know, the one who called out the infamous quid pro quo presidential phone call with Ukraine. See Is This a Room at the Vineyard Theater, a transcript made into a riveting drama, to see how those who cross the current American regime are treated. Perhaps you already know the name Reality Winner, know that this Air Force vet is incarcerated without actually having been accused of leaking sensitive material to the media regarding the Russian interference in the 2016 election. She, in her mid-20’s, an animal lover who learned Farsi so she could help women in Afghanistan, is only thought to have done so. The play, conceived and directed by Tina Satter, takes place on Winner’s doorstep in Augusta, Georgia as she is confronted by FBI agents, and is a literal transcript, redaction included, of what happened including the removal of her dog and cat, and the placement of recently bought groceries into her fridge. Talk about chill. All the more because it is true.

Performing Winner, Emily Davis is jittery and forthcoming, much more than you think she should be when the men stop her in her routine on June 3, 2017. You wonder why she did not scream out for a lawyer or someone to keep the guys from getting in her face. She starts cool and friendly and keeps her decorum as the FBI, with Frank Boyd as Agent Garrick, TL Thompson as Agent Taylor, and Becca Blackwell as an unknown male get close as they interrogate her. A particularly effective aspect of Satter’s direction is the spatial relationship of the players as they step, almost dance, around the bare stage. When Winner says, “I wasn’t trying to be a Snowdon,” this brief work—only 70 minutes long—becomes Shakespearean in its exploration of the misuse of power.